I now have this unique opportunity to re-look at everything we have done in _tag Student Ministries at New Life Church for the past decade and consider what we might do differently in a new culture with new friends and new opportunities. I have this somewhat unique perspective of being the guy from the mega church student ministry who gets to start from scratch.

Of course, the message remains the same, but the methods do not. Austin isn’t Colorado Springs and 2010 isn’t 2000.

So my question is, if this was you, what would you do first? I certainly have my own vision, ideas, and direction but wonder what some of my youth pastor friends and colleagues would say if they were in my position. Would love to hear from you.

Would you?

1. Start planning for intimate small group connection.

2. Plan on the big, attractional event to kick things off.

3. Go after and train leaders.

4. Start visiting schools.

5. Focus on a core of church kids.

6. Plan some justice / service events.

This is simply a very brief list to get your mind moving. What would you do?

Essentially, it’s a reminder to all of us that we should always be mindful of what Jesus is saying TODAY so we don’t get trapped in the successes or the failures of YESTERDAY. Both can be traps and should never be taken too seriously. Maybe this is a good exercise to remind us what the most important things are that Jesus has called us to do today. Perhaps there are a few remnants of old ideas that you are hanging on to (or they are hanging on to you). Maybe it’s time to return to some of the first and most important things.

First things First. Matthew 6:33.

In Scripture, we often read that Jesus would get away to a solitary place to connect with His Father. I know what you’re thinking. There’s nothing “solitary” about retreating to the mountains with a bunch of teenagers for a weekend. In fact, we usually need our own solitary experience after those weekends. But the vision for these events is to get away from the distractions and busyness of life to allow Jesus to speak to us. I believe when we set that time aside for Him, He sets some “time” aside for us and our students.

A few weekends ago I spoke at a great youth retreat with an incredible and passionate church led by a fantastic friend and youth pastor. It got me thinking about all the retreat and camp experiences I have created throughout the years and some of the things we have done to, hopefully, make them so powerful and effective. Since now is the time for Summer Camp planning, maybe a couple of them will be helpful to you.

1. Start with the vision, theme, and goal for the weekend.

This should be the obvious starting point, but it often
isn’t. What is God saying to you, your team, your students, and your church?
What do you sense He wants to accomplish? We always pray for the direction that
we believe Jesus desires to take us. That provides us our theme and the
direction for all of our meetings and that’s where we go. Most of the time our
meetings spend more time in experiencing the Presence of God than the passing of
information. Face it, we preach plenty every week. We don’t always have
extended time to sit and soak. Pray. Ask God for direction. Go there.

2. Go all out with games and activities.

After you receive your theme and direction, plan some insane
games and activities. This is one of the things that sometimes falls to the
bottom of the “TO DO” list. But the time you spend having fun together is
second only to the spiritual direction of the camp. If you have powerful,
experiential meetings with Jesus and incredible, engaging activities, you will
have a transformational weekend. You must have both. As you plan, do things
that students can’t or won’t do somewhere else. Don’t think in terms of typical
sports or your basic dodge ball game. Think in terms of insane memory makers.
You want students and leaders walking away saying, “I can’t believe we just did
that.” (Keeping injuries to a minimum, of course). And don’t think you can’t do
something because of your numbers. With a little creativity, you can make games
work at any number.

3. Build teams for connection, community, and communication.

One of the main reasons we hold these events is so our students and leaders can connect with one another and develop stronger community that will lead to discipleship. If you are going to create community, you have to plan for it. The best way to do this is to create teams of around 16 to 24 students led by 3 or 4 leaders.  Let each team create a name, color, mascot, cheer, song, etc. to provide incredible buy-in for their students. Utilize these teams for discussions on the theme of the retreat. Encourage leaders to look for their team members at altar calls, meal times, and free times. Have teams compete with one another to solidify every student’s sense of belonging. And don’t underestimate the importance of using teams for security. Teams are the primary way we keep track of students. Teams will take the long lasting effect of your retreat to the next level.

Fall Retreat Sample Team Suggestions

4. Train your leaders well at least one week out.

I take 2 to 3 hours or so to train our leaders at least one week before the actual event. I want them to understand what I expect of them and ensure they don’t have any doubts or questions. We go over all the leadership expectations as well as what we require of students. We give them lists of the students on their team so they can connect with and pray for them before we go. I also give them time to brainstorm the creative ideas for their team identity. I always leave some time for them to pray together. I have been to too many camps where leaders stand around in the back disconnected. Get them up front and engaged all weekend by giving them responsibilities and telling them what you expect them to do. They can do it.

Fall Retreat Sample Leader Expectations

Fall Retreat Sample Rules Meeting

5. Schedule a full weekend and be ready to change.

I know when we think of a retreat we often think of some chill time in the mountains with Jesus. I like to run students ragged. Pack out the schedule with a healthy balance of meetings, activities, discussion, fun, and free time. Things can get “interesting” when you allow too much free time. Don’t be afraid to run them hard for the weekend. But always allow flexibility in your schedule. If you want to shift an hour or a half hour here or there, go for it. Take your meetings longer as Jesus leads. Ditch a game that isn’t working and replace it with something else. Most importantly, listen to the voice of the Holy Spriit and go where he wants to go for the weekend. If you run a full and balanced schedule, students will leave with a fulfilling and transforming experience (and they’ll sleep better at night which means fewer shenanigans).

Fall Retreat Sample Schedule

Jesus changed my life forever at camps. If you implement some of these ideas at your next camp, He will change the lives of your students and maybe transform you a little too.

Some of you know I recently posted the story of what God is calling Maria and I to do in this new season of our lives. We're heading down to Austin, Texas with my brother, Ross, and his family to plant a church called ONEchapel. You can read about that in my previous post if you like. 

If you have 4 minutes or so it might be worth it just to see the different hair styles. Oh, and the fact that I look 12 years old through half the video is pretty fun as well. We're proud of the fact that Jesus gave us the strength and the grace to finish well. If you watch this video, maybe take some time to ask Him to help you finish your assignment well too…2 Timothy 4:7

_tag’s farewell to Brent from Brent Parsley on Vimeo.

Glimpses of the last decade of ministry with Brent and _tag. Put together by Tim Dumais, Drew MacAlmon, and Jon Egan and shown on Brent’s farewell night at _tag.

 I planned on pastoring _tag and New Life for the rest of my
days and then thought about possibly being buried somewhere in the floor in the
_tag auditorium. Creepy, I know. My secret hope was that all these incredible
students would fail their classes so I could be 70 and they could be 50 and we
would continue to pursue Jesus and change a generation together. I’m not sure that
was a great plan. And even though students seemed to think it was a good idea,
parents never seemed to like it much. Though that was my secret and, albeit
strange, heart’s desire I have always left a little room in my heart for God to
anything and everything He ever wants to do with me.

 About one year ago Jesus started working in that portion of
my heart, and I realized some new things were beginning to stir. Around this
same time my brother Ross was stirring with God’s call to plant a new church.
So Maria and I started asking questions of one another, of trusted friends, of
spiritual authorities in our lives like our parents and pastor, and, most
importantly, of Jesus. We sensed Jesus had plans that did not include my being
memorialized in the middle of the _tag auditorium. Then the whispers began. Not
the “LOST” kind of whispers that are super scary and unexplainable. I’m talking
about the quiet whispers of the Holy Spirit. You know, the kind that are
unsettling and comforting all at the same time. Along with those whispers
started to come the confirmations that God was indeed saying we were to partner
with Ross, his wife, Aimee, and their 5 (yes, 5) children. (Hey, instant
student ministry). As we continued to pursue God’s whispers and subsequent confirmations
we knew that God was leading us to our next season.  

 The confirmations have been vast, varied, and too numerous
to list here. But they all culminated as we wrapped up our Fall Retreat at the
end of October. We were finishing a strong night of worship, prayer, and
ministry. I said a closing prayer from the stage and as I said “Amen” I heard
the words in my heart, “Good job. You did it. You crossed the finish line. You
finished well.” It was a powerful moment for me. Unbeknownst to me, my wife
heard the same thing in her heart in the back of the room at the same time. So,
we knew this was it. The time had come to close this wonderful chapter and open
the next one.

 So my family and I are planting a church called ONEchapel in
Austin, Texas with my brother, Ross, and his family. What does that mean for a
“lifetime” student ministry guy? I’m not sure yet. No doubt we’ll fulfill a
number of new duties, but I will continue to pastor teenagers and will, most
likely, add to that children and college. We think Jesus is giving us some
fresh ideas on the family in the local church and we’re really excited about running
with that vision. More to come on that later.  I’ll also continue to connect with and coach youth pastors
because I believe God has called me to do that and it’s something else that I
really love. I’m also going to work on this blog a little bit and see if I have
some helpful things to add to the church and youth ministry conversations. It
might be interesting to be the guy from the Mega Church who goes back and
starts from scratch. But hey, I make no guarantees.

 One thing is certain. I’m going to love Jesus, love my wife,
love my kids, love teenagers and their families, love youth pastors, and love
the Body of Christ. To me, that sounds like a really great life.

 And If you’ve read this far you’re either really bored or
you’re my Mom. In either case you’re welcome to come along for the journey if
you would like.

 Thanks. Here we go. Let’s equip a generation to be life-long disciples of Jesus.

 Brent

Follower of Jesus, Husband, Dad, and Pastor

 www.onechapel.com

facebook.com/brentparsley

twitter.com/brentparsley

We recently returned from our _tag Fall Retreat. What an incredible time with Jesus and a lot of really incredible and passionate students. I think it probably ranks somewhere in my top 3 retreats with _tag. The whole thing centered around the idea that God has extended to us an Eternal Invitation. It doesn’t go away. We should always run to it and never away from it. What’s the Invitation to? Best Part. It’s not an event, a circumstance, a feeling, an emotion, or anything like that. This Invitation is to a person and His name is Jesus. Just Jesus. Sometimes we do folks a major disservice by preaching Jesus “and”…. Come to Jesus “and” you’ll get… Come to Jesus “and” He will… Come to Jesus “and” you will… Not interested anymore. 

Let’s just come to Jesus. 

We had some kids give their lives to Jesus for the first time, some were baptized in the Holy Spirit. We baptized a whole bunch in water. What a weekend! So I thought I would share some memories and remind you (anyone who might read this) that you are Invited. Let’s go. 

The Heartwork Vision keeps moving. American teenagers reaching out to African Orphans. African Orphans reaching back to American teenagers. Destiny rescuing destiny.

Keep watching www.heartwork.tv for more…

We wanted to highlight the fun and community aspects as we head toward our Summer Trimester. Take a look. It has a 70′s Bible School infomercial meets Dharma Initiative vibe. Nice…kind of.

 
It was an awesome night because of the Offering but also because the Spirit of God showed up in the meeting in a huge way. Students gave their lives to Christ, others were healed, others delivered from junk…it was fantastic! It all made for a huge night for the _tag family.

I'm really proud of all you and so excited about what Jesus is doing with us.

Love you all. See you this Wednesday.
P.S. One World Offering for Widows Homes is coming in a month. : )

This Wednesday only (April 29) we’re challenging all of us to bring in at least 10 meals for families of 4. In our current economy we keep hearing about the needs of families, friends, and neighbors in our community. One of those big needs is food. We can do something about that.

So make some sacrifices and bring in your meals to _tag this Wednesday. Be a part of what God is doing with us. Oh, and watch this latest Weblog from Newman. He’s trying hard, but sometimes he just doesn’t get it quite right.

Obviously, any youth pastor worth his salt is going to say that solid content in a meeting or message is most important. However, it can be very easy and quite tempting to prepare a gathering or to write a talk as if the opposite were true. How many times have we asked, “What’s big right now? We could do a sermon series based on American Idol and we’ll talk about how we shouldn’t have any Idols in our lives. Oooohh, that’s good!” Or how about, “Let’s do a series called 24 and we’ll talk about how it’s not good to torture people to extract information that will save the United States of America from certain impending doom!” OK. It’s possible that I’m reaching.

Well, it’s embarrassing to admit it but I’ve been walking this tight rope again this past week. You would think I would have learned my lesson by now. I think my heart is in the right place, but I constantly have to make sure my motives are in the right place as well. It’s so easy to start with culture and inject the Gospel. We’re good at it. We think that will appeal to a broader group of students and that’s good. Right?
But that’s backwards.

Start with the Gospel and think about injecting youth culture.

I like to say it this way, “Give them what they need. Consider what they want.”

So I’m putting an end to the struggle one more time this week and simply following what I sense God is whispering to me. Don’t start with the big cultural draw and try to fit in what God wants to say. Start with what God is saying and then consider if adding some youth culture will be beneficial. Often, it’s not.

As it turns out Jesus is always enough all by Himself. He is exactly what they need.